The US military is damn sure getting their money's worth out of that design!
I once watched one of these things take off from the USAF Base on Okinawa. IIRC, there was a HELL of a lot of noise,it suddenly shot forward like a rocket,and at about the time the wheels left the runway,it pretty much took a 90 degree turn straight up,and blasted out of sight before you knew what was happening.
All these decades later,and it's still one of the best things flying.
The only other military machine I can think of that gave that much bang for the buck is the old C-123 and C-130's. There are a lot of them flying that are twice the age of some of the crewmen flying them,and they have a VERY low crash record. Airplanes just don't get much more reliable than the 123's and 130's.
OOPS,I guess the old B-52 is in that same category! Watching a flight of THOSE SOB's take off is discovering what sound FEELS like,as they waddle down the airstrip,slowly gaining speed,as the wings flap up and down like a bird trying to take off (an exaggeration,but not much of one),and noise that has to be heard and FELT to be believed.
Once had a couple of B-52's flying air cover over my team in Laos when we were surrounded and called out for some tac air support. I am guessing the NVA were motr surprised than we were.
If a couple of B-52's flying so low you can see their bomb bay doors are open don't scare you into thinking you hear your mama calling you home,you are a braver man than I! All I know for a fact is the NVA developed a sudden interest in being somewhere else,and because of that we got outta there.
No,I don't think for a minute they were going to drop any bombs. The bombs they carry are so big there is no way they could have dropped them in close support without killing us,too. They were just faking out the enemy until other air support could arrive.
Good fake!
The do climb considerably slower than the U-2's,though.
